


Mangy Mutt

by adrianicsea



Series: Shitty Vampires [2]
Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Gen, M/M, the macdennis is mostly subtext right now but It Will Happen, vampire-human hybrid!dennis, werewolf!charlie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 11:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8100310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adrianicsea/pseuds/adrianicsea
Summary: Charlie didn't always know he was a werewolf.





	

Growing up in Philadelphia, Charlie never thought anything of all the monsters living in the city. Honestly, he never ran into many of them—vampires could only come out at night, after all, so he seldom saw any of them. As for werewolves, Charlie thought they were kinda cool, but he never saw many of them, either; his mom didn’t let him out of the house on full moons, and most werewolves had the self-control to keep themselves from shifting in public. There were other monsters besides those two, of course, but it was even rarer to see them, so Charlie didn’t pay them much attention.

As kids, he and Mac would sit together in his room at night, looking out at the darkened streets and listening to the distant howling.

“What do you think it’s like to be a werewolf?” Charlie asks Mac, voice tiny.

“Ohh, dude, it must be _awesome,_ ” Mac whispers back in reply. “All that power and freedom? It sounds so cool! I wish _I_ was a werewolf, man.”

Charlie frowns and looks at Mac.

“Really? Don’t you think it would be scary?”

Mac scoffs.

“Dude, what’s scary about turning into a big wolf monster? Nobody would ever try to mess with you!”

“I guess…”

Charlie’s eyebrows draw closer together as he trails off.

“Wouldn’t you be afraid of hurting your mom or something, though?”

Mac must not have thought about that, because he doesn’t have an answer. As the two of them sit together, another howl echoes out across the city.

“It doesn’t matter,” Mac finally answers. “I’m just a human.”

“Yeah,” Charlie nods, giving a small sigh of relief. “Me too.”

If he’d only known.

* * *

 

Ten years later, it’s a warm, magical June night in Philadelphia, and Charlie is running for his life alongside Mac and Dennis.

The three of them were hanging out on a playground with a stolen 24-pack of Natty Lite when a police officer discovered them, and now they’re on the run, worn-out sneakers slapping the pavement as they try to outrun the law. As they run, Dennis whimpers something about how he’s too young and pretty to go to jail, but Charlie thinks he has nothing to worry about; Dennis is a hybrid, after all. He’s already faster than both Mac and Charlie without even trying, especially in the nighttime.

Despite his natural advantages, though, Dennis is barely pulling ahead of Charlie and Mac. Mac, for his part, is doing his best to keep abreast of Dennis, probably more out of a sense of competitiveness than fear of the police. Unlike Dennis, Charlie and Mac have had plenty of dealings with cops before, so this is really more of a game to them than anything else. And tonight, it especially feels like a game to Charlie. He actually laughs as the three of them skid around a corner and take off again.

“Charlie, why are you laughing?!” Dennis demands between huffs of breath that he doesn’t technically need.

“We’re havin’ fun, dude!” Charlie answers, still laughing. Something about tonight just feels awesome. Maybe it’s the sense of danger, or the fun of being chased, or the way the full moon is shining down on the city, casting everything in silver, but whatever it is, it’s got Charlie feeling better than he has in weeks.

As they keep running, the cop’s voice and footsteps growing ever more distant, Charlie actually pulls ahead of Mac and Dennis. It surprises him just as much as it surprises them; he’s not out of shape, exactly, but he definitely doesn’t exercise the way they do.

Finally, after what seems equally like an eternity and the blink of an eye, they reach a quiet side street and decide that they’re safe. The three of them skid to a halt to catch their breath, Mac and Charlie laughing amongst themselves as Dennis breathes an exaggerated groan.

“You idiots, we could have been arrested!” he accuses, once he’s caught enough of his breath to speak.

“Yeah,” Mac giggles, still giddy off the beer they tragically abandoned at the playground, “but we weren’t!”

Dennis just groans again at that, while Mac and Charlie laugh harder. The good mood Charlie’s been in all night hasn’t dissipated; in fact, it seems stronger now than ever. Charlie suddenly feels the need to raise his chin and howl his laughter up to the heavens, and so he does, Mac joining him just for a moment.

When Charlie howls a second time, though, Mac stops, instead regarding him with a strange, almost fearful look.

“Dude, what are you doing?” he asks. “You can’t howl on a full moon! Do you want us to get mauled?”

Charlie looks back down at Mac to answer him, only to find his mind suddenly blank.

“I… I don’t know,” he says. “I had to.”

Dennis and Mac are giving him matching looks of confusion, skepticism, and in Dennis’ case, disgust.

“Well, whatever,” Mac says a moment later, still looking a bit shaken. “Let’s just go home.”

Charlie nods and falls into step behind Mac and Dennis, but he only makes a couple steps before he suddenly falls to his knees, sharp pains stabbing all throughout his body. When they turn to see him, Mac instantly rushes to Charlie’s side while Dennis hangs back, watching in a mix of fear and concern.

“Charlie, what’s wrong?” Mac asks. “You didn’t even drink that much, dude.”

Charlie tries to answer him, but another shot of pain courses through him, and all that comes out is a harsh growl as he contorts in sudden agony. Mac cowers, taking a quick step back.

When Charlie looks back up at Mac, his eyes have gone yellow and wild.

“Holy shit,” Mac breathes. He scrambles backwards at the same time Dennis darts forward to grab him and pull him back.

“Mac, we need to get out of here _now!_ ” he yells, voice shrill. Mac twists in Dennis’ grip to look at him, to see if he looks as petrified as Mac feels.

“What about Charlie?!” Mac demands. Dennis just shakes his head and takes another big step backwards, pulling Mac with him like it’s nothing.

“There’s nothing we can do for him, Mac.”

Dennis is trying his best to sound calm and in charge, the way he always does around Mac, but he sounds just as scared as Mac feels. Mac opens his mouth to protest again—

Only to be cut off by another howl.

Suddenly frozen in terror, Mac turns in Dennis’ arms to where he left Charlie.

Standing there, amidst a pile of Charlie’s shredded clothes, is a huge wolf, its fur unkempt and matted, staring at the two of them with piercing golden eyes. As Mac and Dennis stare at it, it folds its ears back and hunches over with a growl. Mac realizes with mounting terror that it—that _Charlie_ —is about to pounce.

Luckily, Dennis has always been a much quicker thinker than him. Before Mac can do anything, just as Charlie leaps for them, Dennis grabs hold of Mac’s hand and _runs._ And for the first time, Mac truly realizes that Dennis isn’t human. Entire blocks blur past his vision in what seems like seconds as Dennis leads them to safety, away from the wolf that used to be Charlie. He can hear snapping and snarling behind them, but it fades away quickly, finally being punctuated by another long howl. Mac can hear a chorus of howls answering Charlie as Dennis keeps running.

In what feels to Mac like a matter of minutes, they’ve made it back to the Reynolds mansion, and Dennis is throwing him into the entry hall before following him in and closing the door behind them. Mac turns around, opening his mouth to speak, but Dennis shakes his head and shushes him.

“My room,” he pants, passing Mac to head upstairs. Mac nods and follows him in silence.

Once they reach Dennis’ room, Dennis immediately collapses on his bed, panting heavily and producing a bag of blood from the minifridge beneath the bedframe. As he gulps it down without ceremony, Mac starts talking.

“Dennis, what the _fuck?!_ Charlie’s a goddamn werewolf!”

Dennis nods and clenches the now-empty blood bag in his hand, crushing it a little before tossing it into the trash can and pulling a second one out of the fridge.

“ _Obviously_ ,” he hisses as he tears the bag open. “But _how?_ Did he get bitten?”

“I don’t think so, dude.”

Mac frowns and shakes his head.

“Charlie would have told me if anything like that had happened."

Dennis takes another long drink from his blood bag. When he pulls away, he suggests, “Maybe he ate something that had werewolf spit on it or something?”

Mac wrinkles his nose and stares at Dennis in disbelief.

“Can it actually spread that way?”

Dennis pauses for a long moment before he shrugs and sighs, dropping the second empty bag onto the floor.

“No, I don’t think so,” he admits. “But do you have any other ideas? His mom’s human, isn’t she?”

Mac nods silently as he moves to sit on the edge of Dennis’ bed. Dennis normally doesn’t let him, but tonight, things are different. He even scoots over to make room for Mac to sit more comfortably.

“…What are we gonna do, Dennis?” Mac finally asks. Dennis sighs and shrugs.

“I don’t know, Mac.”

Mac sighs and gazes down at the floor, his shoulders drawing up around him protectively. Dennis watches him for a few seconds before sitting up and gently putting one arm over Mac’s shoulder.

“Do you think he’s okay?”

Dennis hesitates before answering.

“Yeah, Mac,” he lies. “Charlie will be okay.”

Mac nods, but he doesn’t seem convinced. Dennis knows that he certainly isn’t. A long, heavy silence stretches between them.

“We’ll go look for him at his house in the morning, okay?” Dennis finally says. Mac doesn’t look up, but he gives a mechanical nod.

“Yeah.”

* * *

 

True to their word, Dennis and Mac head out for Charlie’s house in the morning. Between the sunlight and the amount of energy he spent the night before, Dennis is extremely drained; he didn’t even put on any foundation before leaving the manor. Dark circles ring his eyes as he follows Mac, hunched over himself in the oversized hoodie he saves for occasions like this.

As they turn the corner onto Charlie’s street, Mac swallows, preparing himself for anything. The street seems quiet, as befitting the morning; a few people are moving about, but they don’t seem happy about it. There’s no trace of any sort of werewolf carnage, which Mac supposes is a plus. Then again, he thinks, it could just mean that Charlie left a trail of bodies somewhere else in the city.

They reach Charlie’s doorstep, and Mac hesitates as he knocks on the door. The front of Charlie’s house looks completely undisturbed as well, for better or for worse. There’s no response, but Dennis perks up.

“Did you hear that?” he asks. Mac looks at him in confusion, shaking his head.

“What are you talking about?”

“I heard people talking in there,” Dennis said. “They stopped when you knocked. I think one of them was Charlie.”

“Really?!”

Mac is equally afraid and relieved to hear that. It’s good that Charlie is home safe, and human again, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t in trouble. He turns and knocks on the door again, harder this time. Mac hears a faint “Coming!” from inside the house, and a moment later, Ms. Kelly is opening the door for them.

“Oh! Mac, Dennis, thank goodness you’re safe,” she coos, immediately pulling them in for a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

“Hi, Ms. Kelly,” Mac says, doing his best to sound polite as he gently pulls himself and Dennis out of the hug. “Yeah, we’re safe. Can we come in?”

“Oh, of course,” she says, stepping aside to let them in. “I actually wanted to talk to you two about what happened last night—“

“Mac? Dennis?”

Mac immediately tunes Ms. Kelly and the rest of the world out.

“Charlie! Is that you?” he calls into the Kelly household, much too loudly.

But then Charlie is there, walking out of the kitchen, and Mac doesn’t care how loud he’s being. He and Charlie run to each other, hugging each other tight.

“You’re okay,” Mac mumbles into Charlie’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Charlie nods. “I’m okay.”

Mac feels a sudden addition of heat and weight and realizes that Dennis has joined the hug.

“I’m glad to see you, Charlie,” Dennis says. For once, he sounds completely serious about that. “I was worried about you.”

Charlie laughs awkwardly at that.

“I’m just glad you two are okay,” he says.

Eventually, the three of them drift apart, and turn back to look at Ms. Kelly. She’s watching them all with a tearful, watery smile.

“Now, then, would you boys like to join me and Charlie in the kitchen?”

* * *

 

“—and I found him this morning curled up on the porch, completely naked,” Ms. Kelly finishes. “He told me that last night he turned into a wolf and ran all over the town before he finally came here when the sun rose.”

The four of them sit circled around the kitchen table, trying to piece together how the events of last night came to be.

“Mom, I swear,” Charlie says, “I’ve never been bitten in my life. And I don’t mess with needles or anything like that, so what the _hell?_ ”

“He’s telling the truth, Ms. Kelly,” Mac interjects. “I would have known if anything like that happened to him.”

Ms. Kelly nods, waving Mac off gently.

“It’s okay, boys, I believe you.”

“But then, if he didn’t catch it, how is Charlie a werewolf?” Dennis asks, scowling as he thinks. “It can’t be genetic… _Right_ , Bonnie?”

Mac shoots Dennis a quick look of warning.

“Ms. Kelly, I think what Dennis _means_ is that, well… You are human, aren’t you? Is it possible that it’s a family thing?”

Charlie laughs out loud at that.

“Dude, that’s ridiculous!” he says. “You’ve been friends with me my whole life. Don’t you think we would have noticed if my mom was a werewolf?”

Charlie keeps laughing as he turns to his mom.

“You’re as human as it gets, right, Ma?” he asks.

Ms. Kelly doesn’t say anything.

“…Mom?”

Ms. Kelly looks at Charlie, sadness and regret brewing in her eyes.

“Well… Yes and no,” she says.

“Yes and no?” Charlie repeats dumbly. “What does that mean?”

“It means—“

But Charlie interrupts his mother again before she can speak.

“Are you a hybrid like Dennis?! Have you been lying to me this whole time about what you are?!” he demands. Ms. Kelly looks hurt and scandalized as she finally manages to speak.

“No, Charlie! I would never do that.”

She sighs to herself and looks down at her hands, fiddling with her old ruby ring before she continues.

“I promise you, Charlie, I’m completely human. But…”

She hesitates.

“…I do have the recessive gene.”

Charlie stares blankly at her, while Mac raises his eyebrows and Dennis sucks in a quiet breath at this development.

“Mom, what are you talking about?” Charlie asks again. His voice sounds strange, empty like he can’t decide what feeling to put in it.

“Well, Charlie, you can become a werewolf from getting bitten, but you can also be born as one, if you have the right parents. It’s a recessive gene, so usually, only werewolves can have werewolf kids, right?”

“Right,” Charlie says, nodding along with his mom’s explanation.

“But sometimes,” she goes on, “if two humans both have a recessive gene for it, their kid can grow up to be a werewolf, too.”

“So…” Charlie pauses to think for a moment.

“So… My dad had it, too? And that’s why I’m a werewolf?”

Ms. Kelly nods, although she wrings her hands in uncertainty.

“I didn’t know your father long enough to find out if he had it or not,” she admits, dropping her head in shame. “But that’s the only explanation I can see for this.”

There’s a long, painful silence at the table then, as everyone digests this information. Charlie is the next one to speak.

“So… Now what?” he asks. “I don’t know what to do with all of this.”

To Mac’s surprise, Dennis pipes up.

“I’ll help you, Charlie.”

When everyone else at the table looks at him in disbelief, Dennis frowns and shrugs.

“What?” he asks. “I’m the only one here who actually knows what it’s like not to be human. I can do a better job helping him than the rest of you can.”

“That’s… true,” Mac admits.

“Oh, Dennis, would you really do that for my little Charlie?” Ms. Kelly asks. Dennis gives her his most winning smile (sans fangs, Mac notices) and nods reassuringly.

“Of course, Ms. Kelly. It’s the least I can do for you… And for Charlie, of course.”

Ms. Kelly gives a small, flattered “oh!” and puts a hand to her chest.

“Charlie really is lucky to have friends like you,” she says. “Here, how about I go fix you boys some snacks?”

Dennis smiles gratefully and nods at her.

“That would be great, Ms. Kelly.”

She smiles at all of them as she stands and heads over to the cabinets, ruffling Charlie’s hair as she passes him.

While her back is turned, Dennis hisses at Charlie, “You better be a good dog for me, Charlie.”

Charlie scowls and flips him off, growling a low “Fuck you, Dennis.” Dennis just grins and laughs in return.

As for Mac, he’s just glad that things have gone back to normal so quickly.


End file.
